We booked Angama Mara for a fairly last minute safari after seeing it come up a few places online. We are SO glad we chose this spot - the location, staff and experience was top notch every step of the way.
We flew into the Angama airstrip which is maybe 5 minutes from the lodge. Our guide, Sophie, met us there and brought us to the North Camp for our stay. She was already aware that we were excited to start our game drives and proactively scheduled a time to leave for our afternoon drive with us on our way to the camp.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by 4-5 staff members and introduced to them all - Josephat, the manager, Adlight, our butler, Felix and others. Josephat welcomed us in and offered drinks while explaining the property and offerings while our bags were taken to our tent. The common areas are beautiful and the views from this “dining and living room” area are stunning.
The check in process was quick, we were taken to our room so we could rest and wash up for lunch and our afternoon game drive. The view from our room was to die for! It’s a beautifully appointed tent (but remember, still a tent!) with floor to ceiling windows, views from the shower and the tub and a veranda the length of the tent for dining, relaxing or massages. The tent has a very nice closet area, a mini bar with waters, sodas, beer and wine and a coffee and tea station. All of the offerings in the tent are complementary and replenished frequently.
As we settled in, we were greeted by a group of baboons! They also periodically scampered across the top of the tent. The wildlife is abundant here, and there are no fences, so expect extra visitors. We had Rock Hyraxes join for breakfast, baboons for lunch, we saw hares and dik-diks right by our tent.
One of the things mentioned in several of the reviews I read was about the drive down the escarpment. You see game immediately upon leaving the camp, and are in the park within about 10-15 mins and down to the plain within 20-25. I do occasionally get motion sickness, and I only had it one day after not being able to eat a solid breakfast. The ride down is just as bumpy as any other part of a game drive and completely worth it for the views. The open air vehicles do help and the lodge positioning to the reserve is fantastic.
The staff and the service is truly wonderful. Josephat and Adlight went above and beyond to make our stay special. We were watching a pride of lions kill a buffalo one day and had not packed a lunch, so they ran a full lunch out to us. The day I had motion sickness, they brought our medicine bag out to us. Adlight switched out the wine in our room and packed us a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc we kept enjoying and brought us hot muffins and coffee at 4:30 AM before our balloon safari.
We were supposed to be staying at Angama over my husband’s birthday, but moved the trip up a week due to COVID-19. They still did a special birthday (and anniversary) evening for us when the Masai Warriors came for our sundowner.
Our guide, Sophie, was amazing. She was incredibly knowledgeable about the reserve and the animals and shared so much with us. We saw 4/5 of the big 5 within 6 hours of being at Angama! Lions, elephants, water buffalo and a rhino the first afternoon. We saw a pride of lions kill a buffalo, Sophie drove us to the Tanzania boarder and we found a cheetah.
The bead shop on property is worth a visit, but it’s definitely worth going to the craft coop in town as well. The culture is beautiful, and the people are open to sharing there traditions and culture.
The property at Angama is absolutely beautiful and the views are stunning. But it’s the people at Angama that make it. The warmth of the staff truly made our stay special. I think it speaks highly to the property overall that most of the staff we spoke to had been there since it opened. We will be back!
